Dec. 6, 2008
ATLANTA – Ryann Kopacka set a school record in the 200-back as the Georgia Tech swimming teams completed the final day at the 2008 ConocoPhillips Short Course National Championships Saturday night at the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center.
With a record in the women’s 400-free relay as well, the Yellow Jackets set 10 school records on the weekend competing against the best swimmers in the nation, including several Olympians. Tech will now be off for final exams and winter break and get back to meet action next month.
Overall, Tech placed third in the college and university division for the whole meet and was the highest ACC school. It was behind only Florida and Auburn. The men were fourth and the women finished fifth.
“Overall, this was a great weekend for us,” said head coach Stu Wilson. “We had 10 school records which is great at this point in our training and I am pleased where we are as a team. Now, we need to continue training hard and get ready for the rest of our dual meet season and the ACC Championships.”
The day began well as Ryann Kopacka was able to set a school record in the 200-back during a time trial. She finished in 1:59.60, breaking a record that has stood since 2003. Heidi Hatteberg also swam the 200-back for the Jackets, finishing in 2:04.10.
In the men’s 200-back, Johnny Hagaman led the way finishing 41st (1:50.78). Matt Tang (1:53.09) and Max Randolph (1:54.43) also placed in the top 56 for Tech.
The women’s 100-free saw Agatha Kwasnik pace the Jackets with a 51.05 finish, good for 42nd place. Keren Siebner (51.82) and Hatteberg (52.69) also had solid swims for Georgia Tech.
In the 100-free, Noah Copeland came within .06 seconds of breaking his own school record. After swimming a 43.91 in prelims, he touched the wall in 43.89 to finish 14th in finals. Garrett Robberson just missed qualifying for finals as his time of 44.60 was 27th-best and only the top 24 move on. Mauricio Sousa (45.05) and Travis Wagner (45.50) also recorded top 50 swims for the Jackets.
The women’s 200-breast saw Brittany Gobat record a 36th-place finish as she clocked in at 2:20.74. On the men’s side, Andy Miller was 28th and just missed a spot in the evening finals session with a 2:04.78. Jeremy Jackson (2:09.42) and Kevin Skenes (2:13.09) also swam well for Tech.
Taylor Flynn secured a 21st-place finish in the 200-fly as she touched the wall in 2:01.91. Meanwhile, Jordan Evans came in 36th-place as she finished in 2:03.17. Christine Chuang (2:04.06) and Jing Li (2:05.44) had solid swims as well, finishing 45th and 51st, respectively.
The men’s 200-free saw Ralph Long (1:52.39) and Sullivan Lynch (1:54.43) place 48th and 56th.
The final individual event of the weekend was the mile and Tech’s Jing Li finished it in 17:30.52.
The weekend closed out with the 400-free relay and like just about every other relay, Tech teams enjoyed success. The men’s team just missed a record by .05 seconds as the team of Garrett Robberson, Mauricio Sousa, Travis Wagner and Noah Copeland finished ninth with a time of 2:59.57.
The women’s team of Keren Siebner, Sarah Broadley, Taylor Flynn and Agatha Kwasnik captured the Jackets’ 10th school record for the meet in the 400-free relay as they placed 10th in a time of 3:23.14.
The Yellow Jackets will now be off for final exams and winter break. The dual meet schedule resumes on Jan. 17, 2009, at NC State. The next home meet will be Tech’s senior day on Jan. 31 against Emory at Noon.
